The Prince of Magic

by Regius-Sanguis

A former King of Lucis, who was greatly loved by many and did his royal duty even to the bitter end, gets reincarnated and dropped off into another world that was both similar yet different than his own, due to the unanimous decision of the astral gods. The gods were happy with their decision. The recipient of the gift, not so much. (MC is OC) (AU Fate/Extra)

8. Chapter 7 — Clues (2)

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Ugh, damn shitty internet provider.

Sorry for the delay, guys. I actually intended to release this chapter yesterday, but my internet was really slow. It just didn't want to do what I want it to do.

Anyways, welcome to another new chapter of TPoM! :D

Apologies for the delay, I've been busy as always, but then writer's block always hits me after the day is done.

Okay, I'm going to stop yapping now. The rest of my AN will be right down below as always, so I'll see you guys there.

As per usual, please leave a review, fave and (or) follow this story. And many thanks to the ones that did one or all of the above. I know I have said it before, but I will never get tired of saying it again. I really appreciate the support and words of encouragement. They mean a lot to newbie writers like myself, so thank you once again, again.

Also, thanks for the holiday and New Year greetings, guys. It's fine that they're late.

I'm at fault for publishing the chapter near the end of the year. I wanted it to be a surprise so, it can't be helped. (shrugs)

Now, without further ado, let's get on with the story! :)

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"Words"

'Thoughts'

"Spells" or "Abilities"

* Sound Effects *

[ Moon Cell ]

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Chapter 7 – Clues (2)

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After escorting their Master to the coffee shop of Astolfo's choice, Rider and Scáthach separated from the group and had gone straight to their destination.

The two of them had already checked on the other buildings in their district, and this was the third they are about to inspect.

Once they saw the front gate entrance, the two sighed as they realized that the building was an old asylum.

Before they entered, they scouted the area first.

Rider used her acute hearing to check if there were any humans in the vicinity, while Scáthach did the same with her Primordial Runes.

When they found nothing but small ordinary animals nearby, the two turned to one another and nodded.

"I'll set up the Bounded Field now then." Scáthach announced.

Stopping near the rusted gate, Scáthach drew a Primordial Rune on the stone wall that holds the gate entrance.

The surroundings changed as a vast blue magical energy covers the entire property, creating a dome-like form as it reached the top of the asylum.

Once it had reached the roof of the building, the bounded field disappeared and the scenery returned to normal.

With the bounded field in place, the two women walked in the direction of the lone asylum standing in the distance.

As they did so, he two beautiful women stared at the tall and massive structure with calm and stoic expressions.

The old asylum has five floors, vast in space and very much abandoned. Everything in and outside the building seemed to be decaying, except for the trees and grass growing outside.

Earlier, Hadrian even informed them of the rumors about the asylum being haunted, which was only augmented by the recent murder case that occurred inside the building.

While most people would be discouraged to go inside despite the daylight, Rider and Scáthach didn't hesitate as they both entered through the front entrance.

The two women looked around, observing their surroundings with a keen eye.

As one would expect in an abandoned building, there were dust, cobwebs, rusted equipment, and darkness everywhere.

After having gone through dangerous situations in their respective pasts, these little trivia did not deter the two women from inspecting the building.

Then, Rider noticed a sign and turned to Scáthach.

"I found the stairs." Rider nodded towards the sign. "Let's go."

As a person in favor of silence, Scáthach followed the purple-haired woman without a word.

Having been briefed by their Master earlier, the two women knew where they must go and felt no need to break the silence as they ascend the stairs.

As people who were fond of silence and tranquility, Rider and Scáthach can work together without talking much to each other.

Although, it might have been different if their Master was around. But at the moment, the two women were content with silence.

What caused them to break it though, was due to the sensation they felt as they got closer to their destination.

From the moment they entered the building, the two women sensed different movements as they walk about, which confused them since there was no one around.

Trusting their experience and honed senses, Rider and Scáthach let their instincts lead them to the third floor of the asylum.

Moments later, they came across a spacious room with chairs, a helping desk and red carpet covered floors.

At the other end, there are twin doors made of dark wood that was adjacent to the glass ceiling above.

Interestingly enough, the light from the glass ceiling was providing the twin doors a great spotlight, as if encouraging anyone who sees it to enter.

Back in the day when the asylum was still active, the room would probably be the waiting area for patients and visitors alike.

In present time though, the room looked nothing more than the most ominous part of the building, despite the bright light coming from above.

The two of them stared at the twin doors that seems to hold a dangerous and dark magical energy behind them.

"How vile…" Scáthach muttered, crimson eyes narrowed.

"I've felt dark energies before, but it was never this…" Rider trailed off, frowning as she tried to find a proper word to finish her statement.

Amused, Scáthach looked at her companion with a raised brow, which was a habit that she seemed to have adopted from her Master lately.

"… Dark?" The crimson eyed woman supplied, smiling a little.

"Yes." Rider nodded in agreement. "It was not to this level. In the previous cases, the magical energy that lingered in the air was more subtle compared to this."

"Hmm, it is most likely due to the murder being recent." Scáthach mused aloud. "The earlier ones we searched in had happened long ago. The one in here must be new."

"How long do you think it is?" Rider asked.

"By my guess, probably a few days ago. I'll have to see it closer if you want a more accurate opinion." Scáthach answered.

"Then, off we go." Rider smirked.

She pushed the doors open, and the two of them entered with their guards up, fully expecting something worse to meet them.

Contrary to what they think, besides a couple of wooden chairs and a desk with a large window beside it, nothing but a (somewhat) clean and empty room greeted them instead.

Rider and Scáthach paused, looking around the dimly lit room with confused expressions as they walked towards the center.

"Well… that was a bit disappointing." Scáthach muttered with a small frown. "I thought something interesting would be here."

Rider scoffed lightly.

"I think your idea of 'interesting' is different to what I'm thinking." The purple-haired servant deadpanned.

"Is it? I think the humans of this era would call it 'living a little', no?" Scáthach smiled.

"Is that how people call it nowadays?" Rider muttered, skeptical.

"Regardless, I thought —" Scáthach stilled, then turned to Rider with a serious expression.

Noticing the other woman halted, Rider stepped near her and asked.

"What is it?"

"I think I've found the cause of that vile energy." Scáthach announced lowly.

"That was fast." Rider raised a brow in surprise. "What is the cause then?"

"The pentagram that is in the center of the room." Scáthach answered, calm and stoic in tone and façade.

Rider looked towards the center and found nothing what the other woman had described for her.

She turned back to Scáthach, who also happened to be looking at her.

"I don't see it." Rider said in a deadpan voice.

"I'm not surprised that you don't." Scáthach returned, then went on a brief explanation.

"The pentagram is hidden in a powerful illusion, enough to even play tricks on people who are highly experienced in Magecraft. If not for my own experience in the mystical arts, I would have trouble discovering it. Also, the vile energy that is coming from it has helped me to locate it accurately. Still…"

Scáthach turned her gaze to the center on the ground, almost glaring in her stare due to how intense it was.

"I can't see its actual appearance, but the dark energy permeating from that spot is quite telling."

"Can you make it appear?" Rider asked.

Scáthach hummed, looking thoughtful.

"I've not had cases like this one before enough in the past…" She paused.

"Well, that's reassuring…" Rider said flatly.

"But, I can try." Scáthach finished, slowly making her way to the center.

Rider followed behind her, only stopping when Scáthach did, who looked at the ground intensely.

With a flick of her right wrist and a flash of red light particles, Scáthach summoned a crimson spear with vein-like details upon its form.

It was Gáe Bolg, the legendary cursed spear that she passed on to the 'Child of Light', Cú Chulainn, who was lauded as a great Hero on par with Heracles and King Arthur.

The spear in her hand though, was one of the spears that she crafted for her own use.

Gently, Scáthach used the tip of the spear to swipe the ground one feet away from where she stood as she cast a spell on the one spot that her eyes were set on.

A moment later, numerous runes glowing in a white light suddenly appeared and formed into a two meter circle.

It flashed brightly, causing the two women to squint their eyes and endure the glare.

Fortunately, it didn't last long and the runes disappeared as quickly as it came.

In place of the runes was a magic circle that was drawn using a dark substance that seemed familiar.

Upon closer inspection, they realized that the substance was actually dried blood.

Scáthach's crimson eyes narrowed as she tried to discern the ritual circle's purpose by identifying its structure.

As someone who is well-versed in most kinds of magic, Scáthach has a wealth of experience in identifying different branches of Magecraft, including the ritualistic kind.

However, even that can be a flaw since she had seen many ritual circles before in her long life, which caused her to have a bit of trouble in recognizing the pentagram near her feet.

'If only the materials to use this ritual were still here, then maybe I could have figure it out.' Scáthach mused, then she sighed. 'No choice. I suppose I can let Master handle this one.'

As she turned to face Rider, Scáthach paused as she saw something peculiar after she looked up.

"Those weren't there before…" Scáthach muttered in surprise.

The cause of her surprise was the strange change that happened to the room.

The room had gone through a complete overhaul, changing from an almost pleasant area to an unpleasant one in less than a second.

Before, the spacious room was empty and somewhat clean, except for the wooden chairs strewn around and the empty desk by the window.

Now, after the pentagram was revealed, it was filled with black vein-like organic tissues that spread all over the room like roots as black liquid oozes out of them, along with the magic circles of the same kind as the one in the center in every direction.

What surprised her the most was the similar dark energy emanating from all of them, and she had no clue that they were even there until after she forced the pentagram to appear.

'It's like the Land of Shadows all over again, except a magnitude disgusting and rotten.' Scáthach mused with a small frown.

Being reminded of her prison-like realm, Scáthach wrinkled her nose lightly and made a decision to destroy the building with many of her magically charged spears.

That is, after her Master has inspected the room first.

Straightening her posture, Scáthach turned to face Rider, who she noticed had gone quiet for a few minutes.

When she turned to her though, she stopped as she noticed the look of concentration on Rider's beautiful face.

"What's wrong?" Scáthach asked.

Slowly, Rider turned to look at her.

"There's something coming." The purple-haired servant said quietly, almost wary as she faced the twin doors.

"Is it a human?" Scáthach asked, following the other woman's motion as she readied the spear beside her.

"… I'm not sure." Rider's brows furrowed slightly. "But can you hear it? There's a sound that's echoing across the walls."

Silence reign upon the room as Scáthach focused her enhanced hearing and discovered the sound of…

"Is that breathing?" The crimson eyed woman was confused.

Indeed, they heard a distinctive wheezing sound, which seemed as if someone was having an asthma attack.

The wheezing sound was constant in every few beats, and it was accompanied by an eerie tone that does not resemble a human's.

In addition, the vile energy coming from every ritual circles placed in each direction of the room, along with the eerie sound, made the scene appear ominous and tense.

"Seems like it, and the presence it gives off is confusing." Rider stated.

"I felt the same, but since you are the one who has better senses, why don't you enlighten me?" Scáthach offered.

"If I were to describe it, then it feels like a human but no longer." Rider explained.

"You mean an undead?" Scáthach asked with a raised brow. "If so, then things will be simple."

"Not quite." Rider disagreed. "It does not have a heartbeat, but something is making 'it' move."

"Regardless of what that is, I'm sure we'll find out soon anyway." Scáthach said calmly. "It's coming in our way, after all."

Rider did not reply as she simply open her right hand and summoned her weapon.

In a flash of gold, a black and purple scythe of a wicked and elegant design appeared with a large deadly blade and about 5'3 in length.

Attached at the end of the scythe was a long dark purple chain with a spear-like point, which curled around her right arm as if it was alive.

The weapon's name was 'Harpe', a divine 'sword' with a special shape similar to a scythe, and one of the objects that belonged to her most hated enemy.

With the weapon at her side, she focused her gaze on the twin doors that was soon being forced to open.

The loud banging noises upon the doors was obvious enough for the two to discern that whatever was on the side does not know how to open it.

It was only thanks to its locking mechanism of the doorknobs that it still held up, but even that did not last long.

After hearing a growl from the other side, the twin doors burst open a moment later and the two finally saw their uninvited guest.

The first thing that went in their minds was that the intruder was a monster.

'It' has a large, vaguely, human-shaped form with a muscular built, and has an imposing height of 7'5 feet that can tower over a grown man easily.

It was hairless, and has a seemingly-rough corpse-like gray skin. The mouth was large and lipless, which takes up most of its otherwise featureless face, and is filled with needle-like teeth that forces the creature to grin eerily. The sclera of its eyes were jet-black and its irises were glowing a blood-red color. (1)

It has no nose, ears or sexual characteristics. Its arms were muscled and long, dangling on its sides, and has claw-like hands.

What makes the creature more disturbing was its glowing bloodshot eyes, its raspy breathing, and severely disturbing gait.

But, to the two women, the only thing that disturbed them was that the creature was naked.

It was a good thing for them that it has no sexual organs. Otherwise, their morning would have been ruined beyond repair.

On a different note, Rider found herself glad that Ryu was not with her.

Ryu has a tendency to wander in areas that piques his interest, which she finds it adorable since it reminded of her Master when he is curious about something. Therefore, she does not find it suitable for the little white puff of sunshine to be roaming around in this miserable of an old building where a strange creature was lurking about.

(Ryu was currently with her Master, who had hidden the little white puff inside his satchel after they left the penthouse.)

Upon entering the room, the large creature began to make its way towards them, its bloodshot eyes trained on them like a predator finding its next prey.

Scáthach merely stared upon the creature with a calm and stoic expression, almost looking bored as she watched its movements.

Rider wore a similar expression, but her eyes held a hint of some emotion as she stared at the creature with her fellow retainer.

"You want to take on this one?" Scáthach asked in a casual tone.

Blinking once, Rider gave the crimson eyed woman a side-ways look.

"It's fine with me if you want to." Rider answered.

"Don't mind if I do then." Scáthach smirked.

However, just as she turned, the creature suddenly moved at a speed that nearly caught the two women by surprise.

Said creature had manage to lessen the distance between them in the span of two seconds.

Scáthach and Rider used their respective speed to move away as it got between them, causing the two to separate on either sides of the room.

If not for their honed instincts, they would have been caught in its deadly embrace and one of them would have been a delectable breakfast for the creature.

Snarling in rage, it immediately went on the move, wasting no time in giving its preys a reprieve as it continued to attack by pointing its arms at their directions.

Once again, the two women were surprised when the arms of the creature extended at impossible lengths, its large hands open wide to capture them.

"Tsk!" Scáthach clicked her tongue, looking displeased.

Rider, for her part, merely remained silent and stoic.

The two dodge the attack again smoothly, but not before using their respective weapons to cut off the appendages that rudely intruded on their personal space before they distanced themselves.

Not one to let a chance get away, Scáthach made a quick eye contact with Rider, who understood her motive and nodded.

In less than a second, they used their extraordinary speed to kill the creature a few seconds after they cut off its arms

Rider went after the legs of the creature, quickly using the dark purple chains to lock its legs together, and then using the scythe to cut off its lower body in one clean swipe after closing in.

Also coming near, Scáthach went into her stance and thrust the crimson spear in a single powerful burst of movement, piercing its skull deeply by five inches.

Satisfied with their kill, the two pulled their weapons off of the creature and threw its body away from them.

Scáthach sighed, flicking the blood off of her spear before turning to Rider, who was also doing the same.

"Well, that was short." The crimson eyed woman commented, looking bored.

Rider was about to scoff when a loud hiss-like breathing interrupted her.

Brows raised in surprise, the two female retainers turned to look in the direction where they heard the sound…

… which was where the body of the creature was thrown across.

Silently, they watched as it wiggled slightly on the floor, face down, but that was not what surprised them.

No, it was the fact that the creature was regenerating its lost limbs at an astonishing rate. (2)

Then, it stood up slowly, slouching as it leaned back before turning its head towards them.

The two watched as the large hole that the crimson spear made sealed up in mere seconds, leaving its forehead absent of injury.

They were surprised, but none more so than Scáthach, who had always been confident of Gáe Bolg's cursed ability to never let any wounds heal.

Rider was the same, but unlike Scáthach, she regained her composure quickly in favor of searching for another way to kill the creature, permanently.

When Scáthach followed her suit, the two were about to circle around the creature, but they found themselves interrupted once more.

Nearly at the same time, all of the ritual circles around the room began to light up, signifying their activation, before vaguely human-shaped forms came out of them.

* Thud *

The sounds were loud, causing the two to glance this way and that, while keeping an eye to the creature, who was still a bit far from them.

One, two, three… eleven.

Immediately, Rider and Scáthach counted and realized that the bodies were similar to the creature, and they all seemed quite intent on having them as their next meal.

Idly, they both took noted that the ritual circles was no longer emitting magical energy after the creatures came out of them.

'Those ritual circles…' Scáthach mused, crimson eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Feeling a bit wary of their numbers and the abilities the creatures' have yet to show, Rider turned her head a little to the side and asked Scáthach of her opinion on their situation.

"What are we going to do now? I don't think these things have any intention of letting us leave this place safely."

Scáthach scoffed a little, crimson eyes still narrowed.

"We do what Master told us to do." Scáthach faced Rider, smirking. "We kill them all."

While Rider agreed with her words, she has another concern that she has to address.

"Don't you think we should leave one alive? For our Master's investigation, that is." She reminded.

"I don't think that is necessary." Scáthach shook her head slightly. "I'm sure our memories will be enough information for him to look into. Besides, I don't feel comfortable of leaving these things here roaming around, and I'm sure Master would agree with our decisions in burning this place down after we clear this building of these things."

Realizing the truth in her words, Rider silenced her arguments and readied herself into a stance.

"Then, let's get to work in how to kill them first." Rider stated, pale lavender eyes cold.

"Hmph, noted." Scáthach smirked, twirling the crimson spear with her right hand once.

Within a second, the women vanished from their respective spots and two streaks of different shades of purple dashed around the room in unbelievable speeds that cannot be captured with the naked eye. One by one, they left near visible afterimages of themselves as they go around the room, sudden bursts of the creatures' blood staining the walls and floors of the room as they go.

Scáthach's method was versatile.

Sometimes, she would attack by using the basic movements (a thrust to the forehead, a sweep of the legs, and etc.), or go all-out into a flurry of piercing attacks that would overwhelm the creatures until they are pushed back to the end of the room by the strong force of her strength.

Whereas Rider stuck to the simple method of hit and dash.

Using her impressive speed, she cut off the limbs of any creatures that came in her way one at a time, sometimes even two if she was feeling lucky.

Whenever the two meet gazes, Rider and Scáthach would combined their attacks and trade enemies before switching back again.

They don't know how long it had went on, but they both figured that several minutes had already passed and not one of the creatures had yet to truly die.

They tried beheading, cutting off their limbs, decapitating their bodies in half, and yet the creatures still regenerate.

What was more annoying to them was that the creatures did not lost their ferocity and brutality in their attacks.

Should their legs were cut off, they would lunge up and use their arms (to give them a bear hug) and sharp teeth to attack.

If their arms or heads were gone, they would still continue to come after them without rest.

Rider and Scáthach had to give the creatures their credit, for the latter group were not letting anything stop them in attacking.

Without stopping to breathe and lose her momentum, Rider chained the legs of two creatures together and used her speed to slice off their heads, arms and legs in three swings before calling out to Scáthach, who was on the other side of the room fighting her own battle.

"This is useless if we keep letting them regenerate. We need to find a way to stop them from doing that!" Rider shouted, dodging two sets of arms that extended to attack her by doing a backflip.

"I'm aware of that!" Scáthach responded loudly.

After having said that, Scáthach stepped forward in front of one and thrust Gáe Bolg forward, uncaring of the small bit of blood that landed on her left cheek as the sharp tip of the spear pierced through its forehead in one clean movement. But, she did not stop her attack from there.

Knowing what to expect, Scáthach let go of the spear, willing it to vanish, before she pulled back right hand, as if readying herself to swing a weapon.

In a split second, she summoned an elegant-looking sabre with a dark red blade and a black handle, which she also imbued with the Gae Bolg's cursed effect.

She then used the new weapon in her hand and swung it across the creature's neck, cutting off its head cleanly in one motion.

Returning the scene to Rider, the purple-haired retainer dodged the dangerous arms that extended freakishly towards her from three directions with a smooth turn of her heel.

Her glossy lavender hair flowing through the air was a magnificent sight to see, moving with her as she returned the favor by picking the three creatures off one by one starting from the left.

When she got to the third and made quick work of her target, Rider noticed something strange.

She was about to do a roundhouse kick to move the creature away from her before it can start to regenerate again, but then she saw a large part of its upper left torso fluctuating wildly, like a balloon shrinking and inflating on repeat at a very high speed.

The reaction was not even normal, considering as it had started from the upper part of its left breast before it spread up to its left shoulder.

Immediately, she remembered that the area of where the skin reacted wildly was the one that she stabbed the sharp tip of her scythe before.

Also, it might just be her imagination, but Rider thought she heard something pop right after she stabbed that particular spot of its upper body.

The creature seemed to be stunned, groaning as if in pain, staggering back for a moment before it regained its composure and walked towards her again.

As the fight continued, Rider gradually became curious, and soon, an idea started to form in her head.

She began to focus her enhanced hearing, multitasking as she avoids the creature's attacks while being mindful of the others that finished regenerating.

Sure enough, numerous heartbeat-like sounds entered her ears and she found that they were all coming from the creatures in the room.

Rider had missed it earlier because of the first creature that came in the room, but it was how she discovered its location before it arrived.

Based on her findings earlier, she discovered that they (the creatures) were cold in temperature. She didn't made skin contact with any of them, but whenever she gets close in range to attack before kicking them away from her, she found that they seemed to emit no warmth, which caused her to conclude that they are really dead.

This discovery led her to believe that there is something that allows them to function, probably a parasite of some sort, which would explain the brief noise and the creature's reaction earlier.

'I must have destroyed one earlier, and there is definitely more than one if it still moves like that. That's probably why they can keep on regenerating too. I'll just have to find out if my theory works. If not, then destroying their bodies entirely will have to be the last option.' Rider mused.

After noting where she heard the pulsing noises, Rider began testing her theory by targeting one of the creatures nearby.

Pulling her right arm back, Rider threw the spear-like metal (that was attached to the chains) towards the creature, which landed perfectly on its right lower body near its hip.

'So, I was right...' Rider smiled in her success, watching it stagger and groaned in pain.

Not letting an opportunity go to waste, she used her unnatural speed to get closer up front and lodge her scythe deep into right shoulder. Then, she immediately went behind it and stabbed the creature on its lower back, all of which she accomplished within five seconds.

With quiet anticipation, Rider quickly moved away as she watched the creature's entire upper body start to fluctuate wildly.

The creature groaned loudly in obvious pain, nearly bending over before…

* Pop *

Its upper body exploded, spilling blood and bits of internal organs everywhere, leaving its lower part behind as it fell down on the ground.

Confident in her theory, Rider went in and began her counterattack.

She used the same method as she had done before and then moved far away once she was finished, watching as the four creatures die in a similar manner as the first one.

Breathing in deeply, Rider mentally thanked her Master's seemingly infinite magical energy as she felt the few nonfatal wounds she gained healed quickly.

Rider turned and was about to lend her fellow retainer a hand when she heard a commotion in Scáthach's direction.

The first thing that she noticed was that Scáthach looked mighty irritated, which rarely ever occurs.

The closest thing that can get under the woman's skin were dirty insects (cockroaches, a few certain male Heroic Spirits, etc.), lack of attention from their Master (this, she knew by instinct), and things that reminded her of the place that she once called home and prison. (3)

Curious and amused, Rider stood by the sidelines and watched as the crimson eyed woman clicked her tongue.

Just by looking at her body language, she can tell that Scáthach's patience had reached its limit and things usually get destroyed whenever that happens.

As she expected, Scáthach's actions were predictable as she seems to finally decide not to hold back anymore.

With her arms crossed beneath her bosom, Rider silently observed the incoming carnage before her.

…

"Ugh..." Scáthach muttered in disgust, crimson eyes narrowed in irritation.

Scáthach had been trying to kill the creatures for a while now, but so far, no progress was made.

The entire endeavor would have been more tolerable if not for the creatures' tendency to become grabby with their freakish hands, their random biting moments and their regeneration ability, which was somewhat tiring to see every time she mutilate one or two of them.

While not usually bothered with gore and their eerie appearance, Scáthach was getting irritated that her enemies today don't seemed to die at all. She can only handle so much gore in one day, and getting some bits of their internal organs stain her favorite clothes was what annoyed her the most.

No, it didn't have anything to do with the fact that she was complimented by her Master in the past with the outfit.

Even Scáthach wouldn't be that dramatic.

Seeing more blood get on her clothes, Scáthach glared at the creatures venomously.

"You filth are going to pay for this…!"

Right after she said those words, Scáthach went on the attack, and attack she did.

Since there were only six creatures left, she went for the first that was nearby.

Creating a crimson spear beside her and charging it with her magical energy, causing it to be broken in the process given by the power she put in it, Scáthach threw the legendary weapon with enough force that it rendered the creature's body to be pinned to the floor by its waist.

Then, the spear exploded, which blew the creature's body into pieces.

Scáthach turned her attention to the others and three more creatures suffered the same fate like the first as she summoned more spears that is overcharged with prana as well.

"Begone." Scáthach growled.

With a slight wave of her left arm, she let the spears fall upon their targets like strong arrows from the heavens, denoting them once they hit.

Immediately after, Scáthach closed in on the fifth and did a spinning kick that landed on the creature's stomach, causing it to fly to the other side and get pinned on the wall.

As soon as she finished turning, Scáthach made another spear, twirling it around her right hand before throwing it towards her target.

Said spear landed on the creature's chest before it exploded as she desired it to be.

A moment later, Scáthach somersaulted backwards and avoided being tackled to the ground by the last sixth creature in the room.

Landing into a crouch, she looked up and pointed her right hand at the creature, who broke into a dash after she avoided its attack.

Beneath its feet, a two meter circle of primordial runes glowing with an ominous red light appeared and the creature found itself unable to move.

With the target restrained, Scáthach skewered its body with a bunch of crimson spears that suddenly appeared from the ground within the circle.

Then, she willed for the Gae Bolgs to detonate like little grenades, and the creature's body exploded into bits and pieces of rotten flesh as a result.

With a huff, Scáthach glared at the bloody spot distastefully as she stood up from her kneeling form.

She turned to look at Rider, who seemed to be observing her fight with a small smile on her lips.

"What?" Scáthach asked, one brow raised in curiosity.

"I was going to tell you about how to kill them, but it seems that you can handle them without my help anyways." Rider answered, looking slightly amused.

Scáthach looked around the room, seeing the remains of the creatures she killed before turning Rider with a calm expression.

"I think I got it." Scáthach said nonchalantly with a nod.

"I can tell." Rider smirked, her tone a bit sarcastic.

Their brief moment of respite was abruptly came to an end as they felt a massive surge of a familiar dark magical energy flood the entire building.

"Ugh, don't tell me…" Scáthach groaned wearily.

"Yes, more of those things." Rider affirmed, her gaze focused towards the entrance doors. "And they are coming up here quickly."

Scáthach sighed but remained looking unaffected by the news she heard, which caught Rider's attention.

"Scáthach, I don't think that this is the time for us to be relaxed right now given the numbers of those things." Rider cautioned.

"I know that. In fact, I kind of expected something like this to happen. I have a solution that might fix this situation." Scáthach answered, turning on heel to walk towards the window.

"How?" Rider asked curiously.

Looking over her shoulder, Scáthach gave her fellow retainer a mysterious yet alluring smile that can make most men grow weak in the knees.

"You'll see."

…

---

…

Thirty minutes later, news of an infamous old asylum in the north made the headlines in the city's local channels.

There, the abandoned building was reported to have been destroyed as a group of locals (who were only passing by) had seen it to be on fire and most of its walls were in absolute ruins.

Police suspected that a great amount of explosives had been placed around the building to reduce it into such a damaged state, but they have yet to find the suspects and their motives behind the destruction.

…

---

…

Arash, Dia and Yan Qing had arrived to the district that was assigned to them by their Master.

Once they did, they came to a large warehouse that was somewhat old in appearance, but they found that it was not occupied as they were no signs of any people within the vicinity. Some windows were broken, the paint on the walls were peeling off, dust and dirt were on the floor, and among other things.

The first and second areas they checked gained no results, and this was the third building that they would be inspecting.

After deploying the 'Finis', they went inside and saw the interior, realizing that the building seems to be in good condition.

The warehouse was just vacant and currently not in use, which explained the reason why it felt abandoned.

At least, that was how it would appear to a normal observer.

Having a certain amount of experience in hunting and tracking down people in their past lives, the three male servants had spent almost an hour and a half inspecting every inch of the building for any clues that would help their Master's investigation over the case.

Most of the time, what they found were quite misleading, but it was Arash who came upon a promising lead in the end.

The brown-skinned retainer found a hidden underground passage on the first floor of the warehouse.

It was thanks to his ability, 'Clairvoyance', that Arash was able to notice the slight gap on the ground. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to see it.

Unfortunately, they quickly realized that it was protected behind a powerful barrier, which prevented them from taking a closer look.

But, it was a good thing that Dia was in their group. Or else, they would have no choice but to inform their Master and wait for him to get to their location to dismantle the barrier in person.

With the help of one of Dia's weapons, the male trio were able to enter the passage safely.

Beneath the passage, there was a short hallway and twin doors at the end of it.

When they opened the doors, they found themselves inside a large private study, and adjacent to it was another room of equal space.

The study appeared like any other ones they had seen before. It has a large desk with a small lamp on it, a black office chair, a small chandelier and a burgundy carpet.

What stood out the most are the items that were on display on the shelves located in the left side of the room.

Oddly enough, the bookshelves on the right was not the one that was filled to the brim with books.

Instead, it was the one on the left that was full, but instead of books, on display were the many glass jars with various objects inside that looked disturbingly familiar.

Upon closer inspection, they soon realized that the 'objects' were actually different parts of an animal and a human's anatomies.

Inside each of them, there was an eye, a brain, a hand, an organic tissue of some kind and more.

Some of things inside the glass jars seemed to be alive, which disturbed Yan Qing the most, seeing as he went green for a moment when he saw a brain twitched.

Arash and Dia felt pity for him once they noticed that his skin was paler than usual when the next thing that Yan saw a grotesque-looking heart that had white worms infesting inside of it.

On the other hand, the second room has a different setting as it has a tiled flooring and white walls.

It has a clinical theme to it. There were three operating tables, surgical and exam lights, various surgical equipment and more that were usually seen in operating rooms in a hospital are inside, which made them realized its true purpose.

"Well, it's official. This is a Magus's workshop, alright. That room in the other side is a dead giveaway for what it is for." Arash stated with a sigh.

"Oh gee, I wonder what gave it away. Is it these things that did?" Yan said sarcastically, pointing at the disturbing things on display.

Arash was about to reply, but then he stopped and chuckled instead when he saw the long-haired retainer retracted his finger quickly once he noticed the white worms were crowding closer against the glass, despite being prevented by it.

Shaking his head, Arash had to restrain his laughter at Yan's look of disgust as he glared at the worms.

"Ugh, I can only thank the Buddha that our Master is not like most Magi. I don't I can take more of this kind of shit." Yan groaned.

"I thought you've seen these kinds of disturbing things before?" Arash asked, curious.

"I did, but not to the extent of being grossed out. Even this is too much for me, man!" Yan complained.

Feeling mischievous, Arash looked at the shelf and saw something interesting.

"What about this one? It doesn't look bad." Arash said, his head titled slightly as he stared at it.

Yan walked closer to Arash and stared at the one glass jar that his fellow retainer pointed out.

"Oh? Yea–" Yan stopped and inspected closer, then his comely face soured. "Dude, that's a head in a jar. That's disgusting!"

Nearby the two was Dia, who appeared to be observing the room with a calm and stoic façade.

Ignoring Arash's laughter and Yan's cussing, Dia walked around the study and noticed a lone painting to the left of the desk.

It was an image of a man who was nailed on a cross. His features were obscured, blurred more like, but his pain and suffering was clear to be seen.

The painting was beautiful yet eerie at the same time, but there was something peculiar about it that made him suspicious.

With narrowed eyes, Dia came up to it and slowly worked on taking it off of the wall.

Noticing their fellow retainer's actions, Arash and Yan stopped their antics and walked towards him.

Having an idea of what Dia was doing, the two can't help but make comments on his actions.

"Hey, Dia, you do know that stuff only works in movies, right?" Arash asked, a bit skeptic.

"Yeah, dude. So, c'mon, lay off the painting." Yan added, equally skeptic and also looking a bit bored.

Instead of answering, Dia merely continued his actions and silenced their doubts when he finally took the painting off of the wall.

The two skeptic retainers became quiet as a mouse once the appearance of a black safe was revealed before their eyes.

After setting the painting to the side, Dia turned to look at the two gaping servants with a small smirk.

"You were saying?" The spear user inquired, looking pleased.

Shaking off their surprise, Arash and Yan crowded around Dia, who was staring at the safe with a thoughtful frown.

"I thought this shit only happens in movies. I call bullshit on that, man!" Yan exclaimed, grinning.

"Ha ha ha, I second that." Arash chuckled, amused.

"Still, how'd you know it was there in the first place?" Yan asked, curious.

"There's a dark energy within the safe." Dia answered, looking solemn.

"Ah, so that's how." Arash said in surprise.

"And here I thought you were just playing around, man. Was about to scold you too." Yan chuckled.

"Ha ha, same here!" Arash grinned, unrepentant.

The two easy-going retainers were unmoved by the mild glare that Dia gave them before the latter turned back to the black safe.

"Then, I should get to work now. There must be something worth of value in that safe, and it might help with milord's investigation." Dia said as he took a few steps forward.

"Well, don't let us stop you there, man." Yan said with a grin as he stood to the side.

"Yeah, do your thing, Dia." Arash encouraged, following the long-haired man's action.

The two male retainers watched as Dia stepped closer to the black vault, and summoned a red spear in his right hand with a magnificent display of little gold particles.

The scarlet spear was two meters long, and it was wrapped in a purple talisman cloth to seal its abilities, but the sharp blade of the weapon was exposed.

The spear in question was 'Gάe Dearg', and it has the ability to severe the ties of magical enhancements and projections, nullifying them.

In this case, the spear was the perfect tool to be used, just as he had done before.

Once he got into a stance, Dia shoved the scarlet spear to stab at the vault permeating a black miasma.

When the tip of the spear made contact with the smoke, the dark magical energy dissipated immediately, which was the typical reaction that they all expected.

What happened after though, was something unexpected.

After Dia had opened the safe through brute force, they saw a small stack of papers lying inside.

Before he can take it out however, they heard a beeping noise that pierced through the air, causing all three pair of eyes to widen in shock and realization.

"Move!" Arash shouted in warning.

Using their enhanced speed, the three servants quickly ran far away from the safe and ducked into the hallway.

With their backs against the wall, they soon heard a loud explosion that echoed throughout the warehouse, which made dust, smoke and debris of wood and cement to fly.

The three retainers coughed, waving the smoke away from their sight as they tried to see through it.

Inside, what greeted their eyes was a room filled with small debris of cement and wooden furniture.

The explosion was strong enough to cause the foundation of where the vault was once located to cave in. In its place was a small rubble, and even the desk and the chandelier were not safe.

Fortunately, most areas of the study and the entrance to the lab were still accessible.

The three turned look at each other, shock and surprise clear on their faces.

"Well… damn." Yan said slowly, a bit astonished by what they experienced earlier.

"Indeed…" Dia agreed with a sigh, brushing off the dust and tiny debris off of his suit with one hand.

"Someone is clearly looking for trouble." Arash commented, scratching his head.

"No shit, man." Yan retorted that lacked any real heat.

"Anyways," Arash continued, ignoring Yan as he turned to Dia instead. "Did you take the files out safely?"

Raising his right hand up, Dia showed them the stack of papers, which looked a bit dusted but not damaged at the very least.

"Of course. I have it right here." Dia stated confidently, smirking a little.

"Good." Arash sighed in relief.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dia noticed the experimental Mystic Code hanging from Arash's belt.

"Arash, the Finis is blinking." Dia pointed to item.

Surprised, Arash and Yan swiveled their gazes to the former's belt.

"Whoa, it is blinking." Yan said in amazement.

As if to mock them, the Finis stopped flashing its light, causing the three to raised their brows in surprise.

"Now, it's not." Yan added in a deadpan voice.

Taking it off of his belt, Arash grabbed the object in his hand and inspected it closer.

"Didn't Master said that the Finis would only flash its light if there's an intruder nearby?" Arash asked, brows furrowed slightly.

"Yeah, that's what he said." Yan confirmed with a nod.

"Yes, that is also what I recalled as well." Dia added.

"Hmm…" Arash hummed in thought. "So, Master was right."

"About what? You mean the possibility of enemies stalking us in this city?" Yan asked with his brows raised for emphasis.

"Yup, sure seems like it." Arash turned to Yan with a teasing smile. "So, you noticed it too."

"Of course I did, I'm not like Pinky and the others, ya know." Yan said with a roll of his eyes.

Dia and Arash chuckled at the long-haired man's comment about their more naïve fellow retainers, which eased the tension in the room somewhat.

The three servants were still on guard should anything unexpected happens, despite their relaxed and casual mood.

Having his fill of amusement, Arash sighed wearily.

"Well, at least it's clear now that someone is really out there watching us." Arash stated, waving the object in his hand. "And this thing is damn good at detecting than any of us too."

"Yes, it is fortunate that Master has given us the Finis." Dia agreed with a solemn nod. "Otherwise, we would not have even known."

"We should get going then." Arash announced with another sigh, observing the mess in the room wearily. "The faster we get those papers to Master, the better."

"Amen to that, brother." Yan said in a faux solemn tone.

A moment later as they ascend the stairs that leads back to the entrance, Yan restarted the conversation with an offhand comment.

"Hey guys, ever think that Master is becoming all-knowing lately?" Yan began with a lopsided grin.

"Well, he does have that thing fused with him." Arash agreed with a small grin of his own.

"Ha ha, our little Master is growing up. Now, if only he can notice the flirty gazes in his way, he'd be a full grown man!" Yan laughed.

Even Dia, who would usually defend his liege from any negative comments related to him, was unable to deny the words.

In the end, he didn't speak and added his opinion, but merely nodded his head in agreement while offering a mental apology to his liege.

…

---

…

In another district…

"Achoo!"

A young man with bright, golden hair and cyan eyes used a white handkerchief to cover his nose and mouth as he suddenly felt the urge to sneeze.

Beside him, Arturia looked at him with concern in her beautiful emerald eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked, gently laying a hand on his left arm.

Hadrian turned to look at her and smiled.

"I'm fine." He reassured her, sniffing a little. "Someone was probably talking about me."

Arturia nodded, a bit unsure but accepted his words regardless.

"Fou?"

"Kyu?"

Hearing those familiar sounds, Hadrian smiled as he glance at Fou, who was on his left shoulder, and Ryu, who was peeking its head out to look up at him from inside the satchel.

"Ha ha, I'm fine, you two. Thank you for the concern though."

After giving his two familiars some gentle rubs on their heads, Hadrian began to walk down a dark hallway with Arturia beside him.

Hadrian and his retainers had recently finished searching the other buildings in their designated district, and they came up with no results. There were a notable few, but nothing that can really help with the case. The current one is their seventh time, but it was not included in the list.

No, the one they are searching in was actually an area that piqued Hadrian's interest.

Situated near the mountains, there was an old two-story mansion in ruins, and said building was the one they are in at the moment.

According to the files, the mansion in question once belonged to a wealthy family of no magical ties, which was proven to be wrong when Hadrian used the Moon Cell to find more about out its history.

In the Automaton's archives, there he found an important information that what was stated in the report seemed to be a cover.

In reality, the mansion actually belonged to an old magi family that was now extinct.

'Zepter' was the name of the magi family.

Based on his findings, the Zepter clan had originated from Bavaria in southern Germany. Somewhere in the mid-century, they had reached and migrated secretly in Canada.

The old mansion Hadrian and his retainers were exploring was the Zepter's ancestral home in North America, though abandoned now after the last heir (and member) to the house was hunted down and killed by two freelance magi, Natalia Kaminski and Kiritsugu Emiya, a long time ago.

Interestingly enough, Hadrian noticed Arturia's normally calm and regal façade twitched slightly when he mentioned the latter's name.

When he asked her about it, the female servant simply said…

'It is nothing of any concern. You are imagining it, Master.'

…

Hadrian begged to differ, especially when she uttered the words in a rather cold tone, so he had the right to be concerned.

But, after noticing her reluctance with the subject, Hadrian let it wane and simply made note to bring it up again in the future when things have settled down.

They have been exploring the mansion for quite a while now, about forty minutes by Hadrian's estimation.

Since the mansion was quite big, Hadrian had to split the party into two.

Charles, Astolfo and Kieran were together, and they would cover the west wing, while Hadrian and Arturia would search the east wing.

Speaking of the three, Hadrian frowned slightly, hoping that they are not slacking off and are actually doing some work.

Although, that might as well be wishful thinking on his part, considering as this was the three retainers in question.

Hadrian huffed, catching Arturia's curious gaze for a moment.

When she bumped his shoulder to get his attention, he gave her a small weary smile before turning his gaze to the front.

"Just hoping that Charles and those two are not fooling around." Hadrian said quietly.

Hearing those words, Arturia also cannot help but smile in resignation.

"Knowing them, the chances of that occurring is quite low." Arturia said honestly, making Hadrian sighed.

"I hope not…" The cyan eyed Master muttered.

Distracting himself from the troublesome retainers, Hadrian focused on the task at hand by spreading out his magical senses as they walked down a dark spacious hallway.

While the mansion was no longer in active, it did not mean that it had no possible dangers lurking about.

Before he left England, his grandfather had given him a map of the city and pointed out areas of interest to Hadrian during the briefing.

When he mentioned of an old mansion that once belonged to an extinct magi family, Hadrian's interest had been piqued since then, especially after he had done his research about the Zepter family's background and their preference in Magecraft. Therefore, it was not at all surprising that Hadrian would want to see the mansion for himself.

His idle interest, however, turned into suspicion when the Moon Cell had provided confusing information about the mansion when he looked into the database last night.

Based on the records, the Zepter mansion had been visited in the past, and the most recent was several months ago.

But, that was not what made him suspicious. No, it was the fact that the automaton had not given him any additional information beyond the mansion being visited in the past.

Before this case, Hadrian was always given complete information about anything that he wants the Moon Cell to find. Also, having the Moon Cell fused with his soul does not mean that he is omniscient and is all-knowing. No, far from it. If such a thing was possible, then he has yet to gain that level of experience in handling the ancient artifact.

Rather, his method to use the Moon Cell's abilities was quite simple.

It would be akin as to having a supercomputer in his mind, one that has an unrivaled internet connection and has plenty of reality-bending softwares.

In the case of finding information, Hadrian has to give the Moon Cell a keyword related to the subject, and the automaton will quickly deliver.

Which brings him back to the main issue, why did the Moon Cell gave him incomplete information about the mansion when it hadn't in the past?

The question plagued his mind yesterday and now.

He encountered a few cases such as this before, but did not look too deeply into it. It was something that he merely took note of, but didn't really had time to delve into. Now, he was having trouble with one, of which was related to the case, Hadrian knew that he cannot put on hold anymore.

It became among the reasons why Hadrian had decided to call his grandfather last night, and his suspicion only rose after the older man had advised him to visit the mansion in person.

And when Hadrian finally saw the building, he realized right away that there was something amiss.

The feeling became more insistent the closer he got to the main private office that once belonged to the Head of Zepter house.

While abandoned and most of its property in ruins, the mansion gave off an eerie vibe that can make most people hesitant to venture into.

Fortunately, Hadrian is unlike most people nor is he inexperienced with dangerous places.

He had ventured a lot of dark dungeons to collect treasures and weapons in his first life, after all. Sometimes, even without his friends/retainers present and by his lonesome.

Still, the hallway was rather dark, but at least the many windows to their left has helped ward off the shadows and lighten up their way.

Hadrian's musings halted when he felt something touch the fingers of his left hand.

It was soft, smooth and has a certain warmth that he was quite familiar with.

Blinking, Hadrian slowly turned his gaze to the left and saw Arturia looking away to her left with the same regal and calm façade that she usually wore.

She appears as the same old Arturia he knew, but the red tinted blush on her cheeks and the way her hand tried to get a hold of his without making it too obvious had given her act away for him.

'This woman, she really can't be lax with herself…' Hadrian smiled in resignation.

Near the end of the war, other than becoming more feminine and open to him, Arturia adopted a strange habit of holding his hand whenever the two of them are alone.

As cruel and brutal as the event had been, there were moments that somehow made everything he endured that time all the more worth surviving, and among them were the good memories that he made with Arturia. What they have now was a testament to everything that they had undergone since then.

The war in the Moon was only the catalyst to their fateful meeting, but what they went through together made their bond stronger and evolve into something unique. It was a topic that Hadrian thought to bring it up at first. Her habit of holding his hand, that is.

But, whenever he saw how Arturia seems to be shy and embarrassed by her actions, he relented in silence and let her do as she wish. (4)

As amusing as for him to see her blush and become skittish like a newborn doe, Hadrian doesn't want to overwhelm her with his teasing too much and make her doubt herself. He rather liked the way she was becoming. Before, she was quite strict with herself, always calm, loyal, and ever so dutiful. Now, she was still herself, but more open, a bit relaxed and comfortable with her own skin.

Thus, if his silence was the price to subtly encourage Arturia to become more like herself, then so be it.

From then on, when Arturia tries to hold his hand, Hadrian would simply let her and not say a word about it.

Hadrian did not mind her holding his hand from time to time. In truth, he felt it was rather nice and would even laced their fingers together, such as now.

Deciding to indulge her desire, Hadrian gently held her hand in his and intertwined them, his smile widen when he heard her gasp softly and felt her surprised gaze upon him.

Not wanting to scare her away, he kept his attention to the front and remained calm, but he gave her hand a light squeeze to let her know that he doesn't mind holding hands with her.

Seconds later, Hadrian felt her step closer to him, almost leaning on him with only a few inches gap between them.

Knowing her, Hadrian does not need to look at Arturia to know that she was smiling by now. He had seen enough of it in the past, and the sight of it alone never failed to make him smile in return.

Without further ado, the Master and Servant duo walked hand-in-hand in comfortable silence as they made their way to the private study.

The trip was short, and soon, they found themselves inside the room.

Hadrian had let his familiars roam around, depositing the brown satchel inside the Armiger Arsenal for the time being as he and Arturia observed the new area.

Like any other study that belonged to a Magus, the office was spacious and once reeked of opulence. It still has a desk, a chair, two couches and a carpet, but they were all worn down and didn't stand to survive the test of time. Some of the walls were broken too, but it was only the window behind the desk that looked good in condition.

The shelves were already absent of stuff, and no books can be found, which was understandable since the study once belonged to a Magus.

If there was one thing he learned about magi, it was that they are hoarders of knowledge, and Hadrian himself can attest to that fact.

With a sigh, Hadrian turned to Arturia and smiled at her softly.

"Time for me to go to work." He said, regret and wistfulness clear in his voice.

"Then, I will keep watch." Arturia returned his smile.

"I'll let you know once I'm done."

Giving Arturia's hand one last gentle squeeze, Hadrian slowly unclasped his hand from hers and walked towards the center of the room.

Taking a deep breath, he exhaled and closed his eyes as he stood there.

'Okay, Moon Cell, prepare for inspection.' Hadrian gave a mental command.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and small blue screen appeared in front of him with the texts colored in black. (5)

The experience would be similar to seeing a window screen in video games, except this was reality and he was the only one who can see it.

[Preparations are ready.]

[Initiate scan of the room?]

'Yes.' Hadrian accepted the prompt.

[Initiating...]

In one second, the room was washed over with blue magical energy that cannot be seen by anyone but him. He had seen it done before, and proof of it was when the blue energy washed over Arturia as well, but she was oblivious to it as she simply continued to remain vigilant by observing her surroundings with keen eyes.

It begun from where he stood, spreading all over everything in the vicinity and leaving nothing uncovered before it vanished as soon it appeared.

Another second passed, the window appeared again, but smaller in size.

[Scan complete.]

'Thank you.' Hadrian smiled in satisfaction. 'Now, let's get to work. But, what's first?'

Looking around the room, his gaze landed upon the old kind-of-broken desk and he let his feet take him there, stopping in front of it.

'How about this one? Moon Cell, pull up the recent history of this object. Limit the range to 30 years to present time only.'

[Collecting data…]

[Data complete.]

[View now?]

'Yes.'

Memories related to the object flooded in his mind, causing him to close his eyes as he focused on watching the events.

There were not a lot, though that might be due to the last member and heir to the Zepter house being killed over a hundred years ago. Most of the time, the desk was untouched for years, but recently, it had been tampered with. No, searched would be the proper word to describe it, and it seemed to have occurred about nine years ago.

What was interesting about the memory is that Hadrian cannot see the person who searched the desk, only their silhouette highlighted in blue was seen, but that was provided by the Moon Cell.

'Hmm… no face, gender, name or literally anything helpful to pinpoint this person for me. Well, there's the height. I suppose that's something.'

Hadrian opened his eyes and tilted his head slightly, humming in thought. He crossed his arms over his chest as an idea formed in his mind.

'I wonder… Was their footsteps recorded?'

Hadrian looked down, expecting to see foot marks in blue and white highlights on the floor, only to be surprised that there was nothing to be seen.

He even double-checked it by pulling up the map, and once again, he saw nothing but his own and Arturia's in the room.

'No footsteps, no anything. This is a first. It was as if everything was cleaned. Not only that, but the memory stops from thereon. The memories of the last heir were still embedded within this item, but the ones with the person who last searched this desk isn't there. No, it's more like it's gone.'

Hadrian sighed.

"The hell is going on…" He muttered under his breath.

Curious by her Master's downturned mood, Arturia stopped her surveillance and stepped closer to him.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked softly, laying a hand gently on his arm.

Turning his gaze, Hadrian gave her a faint smile.

"Yes, but I'll tell you later after we return. I don't think it's appropriate for us to discuss it here."

After seeing Arturia's reluctant nod, Hadrian stepped away from her and the desk, then he looked around the room for anything worth of his interest.

As his eyes landed upon every object in the study, Hadrian scanned each of them to test out his theory, which lasted for two minutes since he diligently went through each item.

But as he expected, the Moon Cell gave him no valuable data that can be useful.

Unable to resist the urge, Hadrian slowly took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing for the second time.

"How troublesome…" Hadrian muttered, laying a hand to the back of his neck in exasperation.

After deactivating the Moon Cell's sensory phase, he was about to put his glasses on again when a painful headache stopped him from doing so, causing him to dropped his glasses on the floor. A bit of sweat had appeared on the side of his temple, but it was incomparable to the headaches that kept coming in waves, making him unable to move for a few moments as he endured it.

Hadrian can feel his head throb in pain, his pulse ringing in his ears, but what was more painful was the feeling of something opening and filling up in some lower part of his brain.

It was a strange sensation, really. The experience was unlike anything he had felt before, even in his first life.

But, at the same time, it was not something he was unfamiliar with.

When Hadrian was young, his grandfather found out that he has Mystic Eyes.

Mystic Eyes were typically single-action sorceries possessed by the magi. It happens when there was some sort of mutation in the Magic Circuits located in the area around one's eyes. Also, it can be said that acquisition of one is the mark of a first class magus since it grants them great power while being easy to conceal.

The most powerful of mystic eyes are those which are possessed from birth, and according to his mentors, only a select few had been noted to be born with one.

Coincidentally, Hadrian is among those people in question.

Furthermore, his mystic eyes seemed to be different from the rest. His grandfather explained to him that it was among the rarest and unique kind, terming it as a powerful hybrid-type.

The 'Mystic Eyes of Death Perception', that was the name of his mystic eyes.

With it, Hadrian can see the 'death' of things. It is a unique ability that allows him to grasp the death of living things as points and lines. Regardless of being organic or inorganic, the mystic eyes allows him to 'read' into the primary factor of death in 'living' things (things that he perceives as 'alive') and visualizes it as a phenomenon that can be interfered with.

The world observed from the mystic eyes of direct death is a landscape of ending filled with 'lines and points of death' highlighted in a bright red color, and a proper mental structure would have trouble in daily life, much like him in this regard. His mystic eyes awakened during the war, which was a bad time for it to show in his opinion.

In perfect clarity, he recalled it happened after he had been poisoned by Dan Blackmore's Servant, Robin Hood, during the war.

He was close to being killed by the poison, but Hadrian found a way to stop it from spreading throughout his body. He only needed to destroy the tree in the Area to end the curse (poison). Then, when he had decided to visit the Chapel to strengthen Arturia's parameters, it was then the headaches began.

He had been caught off guard by them too, and when he opened his eyes after, what greeted his sight was a world filled with lines and points of death.

It was a memory that he would never forget, especially after Arturia came into view during that time.

Hadrian grimaced slightly.

Seeing Arturia, one of the people important to him, literally fall apart like diced meat while still talking to him was one of the worst memories he had in mind. It was to his lament that Hadrian can never forget an image once after he sees it, no thanks to his photographic memory.

Hadrian was forced endure the headaches and his new power that he was horrified to possess.

He did not have the slightest clue of what was happening to him that time, and he was afraid to touch anything, much less look, once his intuition told him something dangerous about the highlighted red lines and points he kept seeing on everything. It didn't help that his vision kept flickering back and forth from normal and to the unnatural scene.

Luckily, a pair of female siblings noticed his predicament and one of them introduced an item to him, which is called the 'Mystic Eyes Killers'.

Of course, like all things in the war, nothing was free. The female Magus with short blue hair and a cigarette on her lips sold the spectacles to him at the price of 100,000 QP (Quantum Particles, the currency in the moon grail war), while the younger sibling offered to make the glasses 'indestructible', as she puts it, at the price of 50,000 QP. (6)

Hadrian's e-wallet that time had cried tears of blood, but any negative feelings he might have had on the matter disappeared when the two siblings gave him two Mystic Eyes Killers as their parting gifts after the event.

It was a dangerous power, surely, but not one that Hadrian was surprised to have, oddly enough.

'Strangeness runs in the family, after all…' Hadrian mused, recalling the history of the Lucis Caelum.

If anything, he kind of expected to obtain an ability related to death, given his family's (the Lucis Caelum) history and relations with the astral goddess of death, Etro.

As the old man had told him before, it was better to have the power and not need it than to never have it at all.

But more importantly, his grandfather had told him that the cause of his random headaches was due to the magic circuits in his eyes expanding to his brain, increasing in numbers, as the time goes on.

Hence, the extreme pain he was feeling under at the moment.

What was worse, the episodes were random that it often catches him off-guard, much like what has happened now.

The pain took several minutes to pass, and he endured it all with gritted teeth and in pained silence.

When Hadrian came to and slowly opened his eyes, he was a bit shocked to find himself being embraced by Arturia.

No, embraced was the wrong word to use. Instead, it was more like he was being supported by Arturia, who had no choice but to put her arms around him to keep him standing.

'Hmm, it explains the reason why she's avoiding my gaze…' Hadrian mused, observing the way her emerald eyes were looking to the other direction.

Feeling his attention upon her, Arturia glanced at him in the corner of her eyes and spoke.

"You were about to collapse on the floor. I had to catch you." Arturia explained softly.

Then, she broke her gaze away as the color on her cheeks brightened the longer Hadrian stared at her, unconsciously tightening her embrace out of nervousness.

With his heart swelling in fondness and warmth, Hadrian's gaze turned soft and gentle as he memorized the shape of Arturia's beautiful countenance.

'What would I do without you, Saber…? I wonder if we would still meet if the war had not happened. Will you still answer my call? Will you still be my servant?'

Swallowing down his sadness and selfish thoughts, Hadrian let himself focus on the moment.

Still, the former lingered in his heart as he stood up on his own strength to lessen the burden on Arturia, causing her to sigh and slowly put her arms away.

But, to her surprise, Hadrian didn't stepped away from her. Instead, he pulled her closer and returned the gesture, which seemed to honestly catch her off-guard.

"Hadrian, wha–what are you doing?!" Arturia stuttered, her cheeks a bright rosy color now.

He didn't answer her. Instead, he tightened his embrace, leaving Arturia to place her arms beneath his own again to not cause him any discomfort.

When he remained silent for a while, Arturia became concerned.

Through their bond, she can feel his melancholy, and she had a feeling that it might be related to her.

Arturia was about to ask him so, but he surprised her once again when he finally spoke.

"Do you…" Hadrian started, whispering softly near her ear. "Do you remember our promise?"

Bright emerald eyes blinked in surprise as Arturia processed those words.

'What's gotten into you…?' She mused, concerned for her Master.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Arturia tried to calm her wildly beating heart as she chose her words carefully.

"Of course, I can never forget that." She answered, lowering her gaze to his beautiful white neck.

Arturia stiffened.

She just realized that she was actually nose-to-nose and staring at her Master's beautiful collarbone for quite a while now, which caused the rosy blush on her cheeks to brighten once more. The wild thumping of her heart did not help as she felt the muscles of his front with her body and the contours of his majestic back with her hands.

Arturia was perfectly aware of her Master's insanely attractive features, and she was reminded of it every time of the day.

But, that was in small doses. Today seems to be her (un)lucky day, however.

Hoping that her noisy heart would not be heard, Arturia was beginning to feel a bit faint from all the private and up-close exposure that she was receiving today from her Master.

She was broken out of her musings when Hadrian spoke again.

"That's good to know." He whispered, pulling her closer to him.

While nervous and happy by her Master's bold move, Arturia felt a hint of desperation in his embrace, which concerned her greatly.

"What's wrong?" She asked him gently, unable to resist her silence anymore.

Arturia wanted to know what was going on in her Master's mind, and she can't exactly remain at ease whenever Hadrian was obviously feeling troubled.

Once again, she was surprised when Hadrian pulled away slightly but moved his face closer to her own.

Now, they are facing each other with only an inch distance between them as Hadrian gently rested his forehead upon hers.

'He really does have beautiful eyes…' was the idle thought that flew in her mind as she stared into them.

When he spoke once more, Arturia almost missed his answer.

"I missed you." Hadrian uttered the words in a soft tone, along with a gentle smile.

At the sight of such a beautiful image, Arturia's poor heart took a direct, massive hit.

His soft, tender gaze and the small dimples on his cheeks when he smiled didn't decrease his attractiveness in her eyes.

Instead, such features amplified his natural aesthetic beauty to the maximum, forcing her to break her gaze away once again, lest she finds herself enraptured by his abnormally strong allure.

'So this is what a charmer is…' Arturia thought dazedly, feeling her heart swell by his comfortable warmth and presence.

Recalling a certain Magus of Flowers in mind, Arturia found no comparison between him and her Master.

Heck, even his natural scent was making her lightheaded.

'Yes, there is no comparison. Master's more natural at this than that man can ever be. Not that he is consciously trying to beguile me, he is simply genuine with his words and actions.'

As she thought of this, Arturia wondered if that was a good or bad thing as she listened Hadrian continue.

"And…" Here, Hadrian's smile turned melancholic. "I was wondering about…"

"About?" Arturia gently encouraged him.

At this angle, the sadness in his eyes was clear to Arturia when he finally relayed his current troubles to her.

"About whether we would even meet if not for the war." Hadrian finished quietly.

Arturia blinked in surprise, not expecting for her Master to think that deeply and be troubled by the subject.

But then again, it was something that also troubled her from time to time.

While she was happy to have met Hadrian, there were some moments in the past that Arturia wished that they met under a different circumstance, particularly one that was not involved with bloodshed and war. However, as fate would have it, they met at the start of the war that was unlike any other, and like him, Arturia had no regrets in the end.

She simply wished for them to meet on a more normal setting that does not involved violence.

"I wonder about that myself as well." Arturia admitted quietly, gazing upon him with a sad smile. "But the two of us did meet, and while I would prefer it to be in a different setting, I am still happy to have met you. The vow I made to you then, I do not regret it. I wholly intend to follow through it to the very end, no matter what."

Hearing her words, Hadrian can't help but smile in relief and elation.

It felt like a huge weight was taken off his shoulders the moment he heard her answer, lightening up the shadows lurking inside his heart.

"Stay by my side, with all of yourself sworn unto me?" He repeated her oath, staring at her with imploring eyes.

Arturia smiled, this time in happiness and amusement.

"Always." She affirmed in a soft and gentle tone.

Satisfied with her reassurance, Hadrian closed his eyes in content and nuzzled his cheek against hers in comfort, pulling her closer in his embrace.

For her part, Arturia was blushing by her Master's actions, but she didn't pull away. Rather, she let herself be moved closer and sighed softly into his neck.

When he turned his head to her slowly, catching the sight of his full pink lips, Arturia made a decision.

Feeling something change in the air, Hadrian opened his eyes and noticed that Arturia seemed a bit closer than usual, her striking emerald eyes slowly fluttering close.

His idle observation came to an abrupt halt when a familiar scream pierce through the air, echoing throughout the mansion.

Hadrian and Arturia were jolted into attention, causing their comfortable embrace to break as they both turned to the twin doors in alarm.

"Arturia." Hadrian began, but Arturia already knew what he was about to say.

"I will go first." Arturia announced as she turned to him expectantly.

"I'll catch up to you, now go." Hadrian urged her.

After one last smile, Arturia dashed through the twin doors (of which was already opened) and down into the hallway.

Unlike her though, Hadrian was not worried, considering as he already checked his links with his retainers and no one seems to be in any danger.

'Probably fooling around…' Hadrian mused with a sigh, silently beckoning for his familiars to come to him.

Hadrian smiled when he saw Ryu picked up his glasses from the floor, and soon, hovered before him with the item in its small appendages.

"Kyu…" Ryu cooed, waiting for him to take it.

Hadrian chuckled, thanking the round familiar with a gentle pat on its head before taking glasses and putting it on again.

Picking up Fou, who was waiting for him patiently by his foot, with one hand, Hadrian settled her upon his left shoulder while Ryu made himself comfortable on his head.

With Fou and Ryu ready, he activated a small portion of his magic circuits to teleport to where Arturia was located, which was in the west wing.

In a flash of white, blue and gold sparks, Hadrian disappeared from the study and reappeared near Arturia, just a few steps away.

Arturia had her back to him, but even from where he was, he can feel the resignation and a bit of annoyance emanating from her.

Curious, Hadrian walked towards her and was about to ask when he saw a peculiar sight before him.

The first that he saw was Charles on the floor, hands and knees flat on the ground, looking like death warmed him over.

Upon closer inspection though, there was a flush on his cheeks and an annoyed glare on his face.

Said glare was currently directed at the two males that were currently laughing about like hyenas.

Astolfo was laughing with his hands on knees, almost keeling over.

Kieran was facing the wall, his shoulders shaking as he too tried to control his laughter.

Knowing their personalities, Hadrian had some idea of what happened, but he figured it was better to ask for clarification anyways.

"What is going on here?" He asked in a deadpan voice.

"Fu ha ha ha, Ch-Charles! He! He!" Astolfo tried to explain, but ended up laughing as he hold his stomach in pain, leaning against the wall.

Kieran didn't bother answer, busy as he was in getting his laughter under control.

Seeing that the two were no help, Hadrian turned his gaze to Charles instead, raising one brow for silent emphasis.

Coincidentally, Arturia copied his action, sans the raised brow.

Feeling their questioning gazes, Charles took a deep breath to calm himself and stood up from his prone position on the floor.

"These two morons…" Charles grounded, gnashing his teeth at the two males before turning back to them as he dusted himself. "– were fooling around instead of helping me search the building! Kieran here, the fucking shyster that he is, was sneaking around in the darkness and almost scared me to death! Astolfo even recorded the whole damn thing!" (7)

While he already expected it, Hadrian still cannot help but sigh, leveling a deadpan stare upon Astolfo and Kieran.

"Is this true, you two?" Hadrian inquired, subconsciously taking on a firm tone. "I thought I said to you guys to take this seriously."

After a minute or two, Kieran and Astolfo regained their composure, though they still chuckled from time to time.

Although, seeing their liege's reproaching stare made them sobered up quickly from their amusement.

"Eh, we were doing that at first, but it was getting boring. Sides, it was damn funny how Charles reacted when we scared him!" Astolfo said cheerfully, laughing at the end.

"I didn't know you had such a… manly scream, Charles. Want to try auditioning for horror movies or something?" Kieran teased, grinning widely.

"Shut up, Kieran!" Charles grounded out, looking quite annoyed and embarrassed. "The fuck were you doing there anyways, grunting like a moronic zombie?"

"Grunting like a zombie? I was trying to say hello to you." Kieran chuckled, looking unrepentant.

"Oh yeah, creeping around in the darkness and crouching in that corner? You're such a piece of shit, man. I almost shat myself, you know. Never gonna forgive for you that, I hope you're fucking proud of yourself." Charles grumbled.

For his part, Kieran didn't mind being cussed out and merely chuckled at the cheeky retainer's response.

Noticing how Astolfo started laughing (again) on the other side, Charles got annoyed and decided to punish the pink-haired servant.

Hadrian and Arturia watched as Charles conjured a few swords overcharged with prana and shot them forward, which landed on either sides of Astolfo's feet.

Unsuspecting to the assault, Astolfo quickly stopped laughing when he heard the wooden floor creak, hinting that it was breaking.

Next, his purple eyes widen comically before he screamed in surprise when he felt the ground beneath his feet gave up.

The swords disappeared as soon as they did their job, which was creating a man-sized hole around Astolfo's spot.

"Uwaaah!" Astolfo cried out, purple eyes glistening with tears as he nearly fell inside it.

Luckily, Astolfo managed to catch on to the edge, barely hanging on for dear life.

"Heeeeeelp!" Astolfo pleaded, feeling the wood bending due to his weight.

Hadrian and the others weren't worried for him though.

Astolfo is a servant with a mortal body that was in peak condition, not to mention strong in mind and body. In their point of views, Astolfo can survive almost anything.

Charles and Kieran were both laughing now, highly amused at the pink-haired retainer's misfortune.

On the other hand, Arturia and Hadrian sighed at the sudden turn of events.

Exasperated, Hadrian turned his head to the window and walked closer to it when he noticed a black smoke rising in the afternoon sky.

'Why do I have a feeling that what happened there might be related to me?'

Later on that night, he lamented at the fact that he hated being right sometimes.

…

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…

Unbeknownst to them, there is a small spider that was observing Hadrian under the cover of the grass, unmoving and strangely only focused upon him.

Far away in an unknown location, there is someone who was watching the Schweinorg heir through the eyes of the arachnid.

Said someone was sitting on a chair, one hand up and against their right cheek to support their head. Their features were completely hidden, thanks to the absolute darkness that surrounded them.

But, the person wasn't bothered by it. Instead, he/she smiled at the sight of the target in their mind. (8)

"He he, found you, my little holy princeling!"

The smile on their face showed many teeth, sinister in nature, one of which can remind someone of a shark smelling the blood of their prey nearby.

"So innocent and looking gorgeous as ever. How I cannot wait to defile you, and make you mine…!"

…

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Author's Note

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Okay, done with this one! :)

I apologize for the delay again guys. Life, in general, is just not the type to let up on its grip. So, every day has kept me busy and I'm getting rather worried about writer's block after the day is done. It's not about me lacking in ideas, it's more of lacking the time and energy to write. The motivation and energy to write a chapter just goes out the window once I start typing.

I even had to resort to playing FGO to reignite my love for the series, and boy, did I get my first surprise this year from the game.

Even today, I cannot believe that I actually got Scathach (Lancer) in my servant roster. Best roll ever! Wooot! \\\o/

Boy, telling you guys how surprised I was that time would be an understatement. I didn't really expected to get her. She just sneaked up on me. I had spent about only two multi-rolls when her banner came up and I was not hoping to get any five-star servants, much less her. I actually intended to waste some SQs to get a new five-star craft cards instead of servants, so I was really surprised by her.

What made my week even better was that I even got Hokusai in one multi-roll the next day. Shocked the hell outta me. I was trying to get Gilgamesh (Archer), but she came out instead. It's making me kinda wonder what is up with the good rolls lately. Just the other day, I saw a youtuber (who plays FGO in his channel) do some multi-rolls and most came out were Berserker class spooks.

Haha, his reactions to the spooks were damn funny. I highly recommend for you guys to watch it.

On the other hand, I hope the game is not glitching up again and the devs would be forced to put up some maintenance to fix it. I'm getting rather busy in gathering SQ to prepare myself to get Achilles and Skadi once they come out in the next few months. Gotta keep the writer's block at bay too.

That's why, the next chapter will probably be published somewhere around the third or fourth week of January.

I need those two weeks to rest, brainstorm and stock up some chapters once I have the time. I also need it to take my time with the next chapter, seeing as the next chapter's content is something that I don't think many authors had tried before. I've seen many fanfics of Fate series, but I have yet to see one that has relations to the next content because there is little material to draw influences upon.

The only hint I can give you guys is that the next content of the upcoming chapter is uncharted territory, and I need to take my time in doing it right.

So, please wait patiently until then.

Also, we're actually getting near to the time of when the MC will be going to the HP verse, but we're not quite there yet. Maybe after several chapters more, and then it'll be that time.

Anyways, that's enough of my rant. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I enjoyed writing it, especially the three servants' banters (Charles, Astolfo and Kieran). I actually saw it happen in real life, so I was influenced to write that scene. Truthfully speaking, that scene is much funnier to see in real life than to read it.

And don't forget to leave a review, fave and (or) follow this story to remain up-to-date. Also, thanks again to the ones that did one, two or all of the above. I really appreciate the support, guys. Reviews often gives me strength to write, and it never fails to entertain me to read yours, so keep 'em coming.

See you guys in the third or fourth week of Jan (probably the latter, I'm sure). Adieu for now, and have a nice week! :D'

(Note: Do you guys want me to put up a Character Bio for Hadrian, one that includes his current parameters in the future? Do let me know guys.)

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(1) – If you have played Resident Evil 4, then you will know what kind of monster this one is, what it really looks like, and how creepy it is.

(2) – This scene was actually influenced by my thoughts about cursed spears like Gae Bolg and Gάe Buidhe. I mean, they are cursed spears that can inflict wounds that cannot be healed naturally or with magecraft, so I thought why not take it up a notch and make something tricky instead of letting the spears do their usual thing.

(3) – I'm obviously referring to the Land of Shadows in this paragraph, and as for the certain male servants, I'm sure you guys already know who they are.

(4) – I always wondered why the devs suddenly made Saber conscious of her… femininity (yes, that's actually a word) in the anime of the first Fate/Stay Night. The very first one, I mean. It was kind of too sudden in my opinion. Just because of some moments, Arturia suddenly became quite conscious of her body later in that anime. In this story, I'm just letting her take her time in being conscious and exploring her womanhood, so to speak. It just didn't feel right for me to simply write her suddenly turning feminine when she lived her first life as a man in the past.

(5) – I did say that this story is going to have some game elements, so here it is. The Moon Cell will act like a system for the MC, but no quests and no reward system. Except with those two, the Moon Cell is quite capable to act as a system for him. Among its capabilities are its ability to make superb calculations, scan, surveillance, and more. But, some of those powerful tools won't be useful soon. There's gotta be a limit to the Moon Cell's omnipotence! :3

(6) – Yes, I'm using the currency of FGO in this story instead of Fate/Extra's, which is the PT. I like the QP better though. In fact, I was even tempted to use the Saint Quartz as the currency, but those things are damn valuable, and I have respect to it since I worked damn hard in earning them in the game, so I have a better use for them later on. QP are much easier to gain in my opinion, seeing as I have like… 60 million plus in my FGO account from all the times I farmed in events. Not boasting or anything, just saying it really. Honestly, I care more about SQ than QP. I would trade all of my QP for a million of SQ's anytime in the game, just to summon my favorite servants. Unfortunately, reality is quite harsh… (T_T)

(7) – What Charles meant in this paragraph was related to Kieran's bond with Hadrian. Among the servants, he's the only one that Hadrian doesn't treat as a servant. Not only that, but Kieran's abilities are really subpar that he wouldn't even last against other Heroic Spirits, including his fellow retainers. Although, while he's the weakest among them, it doesn't mean that he can be taken down easily by enemies like humans and such. He's still a servant, after all.

(8) – Hide yo kids, hide yo wives and hide yo husbands! There's a creep on the loose! O_O

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Q & A

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Dxhologram:

A – Actually, this is just a warm up. XD

We have several more chapters to go before the HP world comes into the story. I don't want the MC to leave the world of Fate yet since there's more to explore in the Fate verse. There are other characters in Fate that have yet to make an appearance.

You'll see what I mean. ;)

…

Krowlein:

A – How's that for romance? ;)

And don't worry, there'll be more Servants to come in the future, and it won't be Shirou or any of his alter versions. No offense to Shirou fans, but there are already too many fics out there with Shirou to last you guys a lifetime, I don't see any reason to have him in mine. (-_-)

With HP verse, I feel the same. I still feel salty about most of the things that happened in canon of HP, and the MC is going to do more than just 'fix' that messed up world.

Now, as for the next world in the sequel, that's a… secret! ;D

I jest, but you'll see once after we are done with this story, which will be quite a while. I want it to be a surprise, but I'm sure (95%) that it'll be something that harem lovers would very much like.

…

Gen2324:

A – Yes, he is quite a lucky bastard. If only I'm so lucky… (sigh)

As for him being naïve when it comes to romance, he is kind of like that. But, with the help of Empathy though, he'll be able to pick up on things that he finds strange, like what he felt from Arturia in this chapter for example. Remember how I stated in the previous chapter that their relationship has yet to move into the phase of romance.

In this chapter, their moment here is the spark and it's Arturia that is beginning to feel that way.

When it comes to things like bonds, especially romance, I feel like it's more proper to explore it in a slow paced manner. There's something more solid about an intimate relationship that builds up slowly instead of going along with the typical tropes like 'falling in love at first sight', know what I mean?

It doesn't feel right for me to rush this story's romance, especially in Arturia's case, who had never been in love before in her first life.

…

Journey to the End:

A – Ah my bad, I thought you implying about Hadrian's fight with Gil that time, and the what-ifs. (^_^')

And yes, that would actually be the perfect method to piss off a highly experienced Magician like Zelly We've all seen what sort of damages that Aoko Aozaki can do in her own visual novel, and it will be devastating if someone of Zelretch's caliber were to use his powers and go on an all-out warpath for revenge.

…

Kensei-1085:

A – I bet that certain astral is Bahamuth, ain't it? I think I read something about that novel, but not in great detail. Just some key points here and there.

And yes, Hadrian does have the Regalia. He was actually wearing it ever since he descended from the moon. I believe I've implied its existence during his fight against Gil, but it was vague, so I don't blame you for wondering.

…

KingAllen:

A – Yes, to both questions. He's going to be learning multiple Magics. I think only two or three, including the Kaleidoscope.

No worries, that spell is quite unique for him, so no other Magi will be able to learn it, even his own kids. As for his Origin and Elements, I'm still deciding on that. I'll probably include them by the time I put up the MC's Character Bio in the future, which also includes his current skills and parameters. That is, if you guys want me to.

…

Shiroyasha Rises:

A – I think the Lostbelts arcs are cool. It's nice to see the FGO is still thriving with new events!

I don't have an account for JP server, so I'm still waiting for the first Lostbelt to be released. But, I have heard quite a lot about the new arcs, so I'm excited for it. I'm all ready to throttle with them new enemies! Crypters? Bring it on! :3

And I'm very excited for Skadi to come! I'm preparing myself to earn more SQ this year to summon her once her banner comes out. I already have her as a Lancer and as an Assassin, so I'm aiming for her Caster version next. May the Gacha gods have mercy upon us all once her banner comes out.

I hear the salty platoons are going to be showing up and collecting the tears of despair by the time her banner ends. (^_^')

As for Sieg, I like him. He's one of those MC's with a unique background, so I don't mind him much.

…

fruitspunchsamurai-987:

A – If you're curious about his thoughts on the Excalibur and its history, then it'll have to read in the story once the time comes. It wouldn't be fun at all if I just tell you in great detail. The Excalibur has yet to make an actual appearance in the story, but Hadrian does know about it. So, his views on it will come in the future when it's right.

Also, we're still near the beginning of the story and you're already thinking about the ending?! XD

Still, I do have an ending that is similar to that route, but like half of the context of this story, it's still in the works. I'll worry about it when the story is it nearing at its end.

As for his thoughts on Merlin, Hadrian sees him as someone who is like his grandfather; wise yet highly eccentric. You'll get to see his views on him later on once it comes.

…

Doortolight47:

A – Not exactly. Having the automaton fused with his soul does not mean that he's overflowing with knowledge. It's like how I stated in this chapter, Hadrian has to say a keyword and the Moon Cell will do its best to gather info about the target. It's like having a supercomputer in his mind with a bunch of reality-bending softwares, including a powerful google search engine.

And no, he doesn't know about Altera's existence yet. He has already explored the Far Side, but not fully. That'll be something to cover in the sequel after this story.

…

Blaze:

A – Oh god, love the Marvel movies, so yes, I do love the Endgame.

Honestly, as sad as I am about Tony's ending, I think it was a good way for him to go. He lived most of his life as a Merchant of Death before he became Iron Man, so for him to become a Hero in the end, it was quite fitting for him.

Also, yes, there's probably going to be some intense battles throughout the story. Like what happened in this chapter, for example, and there will be more to come.

…

Shin:

A – Cu would probably freak out if he saw that his sensei is following Hadrian around out of her own free will. He would also probably think it was better that Hadrian has her attention than him. Cu is kind of silly like that. I don't blame him though, seeing as Scathatch is quite… intense.

He'd also extend his apologies to Hadrian too for leaving him with the war-goddess to save his own skin. XD

As for Hadrian impressing Scathatch, it's because he helped her with the Land of Shadows and he has something that no one she had encountered has, not even Cu.

You'll see what I mean in the future ;)

…

Ken:

A – Not yet, but soon, probably after we have closed several chapters in the story.

…

Kino:

A – First of all, we're talking about the capabilities of an AI, not the personality. So, bring that up? :\

His servants would do the exasperation and the scolding for Hadrian, so he doesn't need a self-aware AI to do also that for him.

Besides, the Moon Cell doesn't have a personality because it always prefers to remain neutral. Even after the war was over, I don't remember the Moon Cell having any personality in the game.

Also, I have a slight fear for self-aware AI's, no thanks to Terminator and its lore. So, no 'giving the Moon Cell a personality' any time soon, if at all.

…

Ashe:

A – Hmm, I didn't know that. Although, I'll probably set the timeline of when the MC goes in to the HP world in modern times like 2018 or 2019.

I really don't like the old era of when the HP was set, so to make it less difficult on myself, I'll go by the modern route in terms of timeline. The wizarding world of England though, will still be backwards in their ways of life, so that's something that won't be changing any time soon, no thanks to Dumbles and his old fashioned ideals… (-_-)

As for Merlin, he'll probably make an appearance in the story, but in the future. ;)

…

god of all:

A – Thank you, and I'm glad you are enjoying it so far.

Don't worry much about the random updates. I don't intend on stopping this story if I can help 's just that I have quite a busy schedule these days that it's screwing up my time for writing.

You know, real life responsibilities and all that. Farming materials in FGO isn't giving me any time to relax either… (-_-')

I'll try to update more consistently in the future for this story. But with my current schedule, along with my original story, I don't think it will be any time soon.

…

Okay, that's everyone! I'll see you guys in the next update! Have a nice day, guys, and good luck in farming in FGO! :D